So you’ve made your mod and you publish it on the workshop – excited to see what others think of all your hard work. Then, nobody clicks on it. This can be properly disheartening, and this is not because you have made a bad mod – but for some reason, the way you have showcased your mod has somehow put people off it before they have even given it a chance.



This guide aims to help avoid this situation.

This is a fairly simple one, but generally, people get put off with “mymod.pack” style names.

Go to the effort of creating a short snappy title that quickly communicates what your mod does. This can be very hard but is worth the effort.

It may be worth noting in the title if your mod is intended for a specific campaign.

For example tags [CIG], [8P] and [ME] can represent Caesar in Gaul (for Rome 2), 8 Princes (for 3K) and Mortal Empires (For WH2) respectively.

This is probably the thing that can make or break your mod – especially in a very full workshop. It is also highly subjective and also depends on your own artistic ability. Some general rules of thumb are.

• Try to use imagery that is of the game. Screenshots or re-using marketing assets from CA. Many people look to mods to enhance the game experience and imagery that looks to subvert that might put them off your mod.
  
• Show what your mod does – either using a screenshot for your thumbnail or by adding the title of your mod to thumbnail.
  
• Although some meme worthy poor visuals can work (look at my own work!)– try to avoid poor quality thumbnails. People will think the mod is of poor quality too!

This section is there for you to tell people what you have done with each update. Not everyone looks here, but the modders worth their salt will always ensure this is filled in. The level of detail should be high level.

• Mention any key bugs that are fixed.
  
• Features added/ removed.
  
• The first version should be titled “Release Version”
  
• If you added a number of small little tweaks or fixes a “Numerous tweaks and fixes” will suffice.

Steam Workshop allows you to upload a number of images to help demonstrate what your mod does. Think about what is on screen for the player when your changes take effect. Reskins, UI messages, tooltips – this is the information you need to convey.

This is simple – if your mod requires a DLC or is intended to be used with a DLC – use this feature and save yourself a lot of “mod is bugged” comments.

The description is where the majority of the information you need to communicate lies and this should also reflect your personality as a mod author too!

There are a number of ways of presenting information here and the next few sections aim to break down the description into its various parts.

When writing your description, it is important to remember that generally, the average user is probably not going to spend too much time looking at the description. You're going to have to put the quick and important information at the top and provide the more detailed information towards the bottom.

Walls of text are not nice. Think about the things you want to communicate and break it down.

As a general guide, here are some categories that apply to most mods.

• Short Description: One sentence that says what the mod does.
  
• Narrative Overview: One paragraph saying why you made the mod, what was the problem you were trying to solve? Also re-iterate in brief, how you solved the problem.
  
• Highlight the changes: Don’t get technical, think about the changes to the player experience and their campaigns. (feel free to have multiple sections like this for your larger mods).
  
• Known Issues: If you know there are bugs and you’re working on them (or can’t fix them) let people know.
  
• Compatibility notes: It is unlikely that people will only use your mod. This is a space to allow you to give people an idea about which mods yours will work with.

In addition, the Steam Workshop allows you other formatting tools to help you make your description more readable. Consider how you can maximise gifs header images and other formatting for maximised readability.

Link Here

Note the list does not contain the [img]url here[/img] tag that can be used to embed images and gifs that are hosted on a URL.

Before anything else, the first thing at the very top of your description should be a super short – one liner on what your mod does – and it should be enclosed within header tags.

This could very well be the only thing people read so make it easy to read. It’s also visible in the official mod manager preview – making it easier for people to manage their mods from the launcher.

Many people come to the Steam Workshop looking for something to solve a problem they have with the game. People also respond well to information given to them in a personalised narrative.

This section looks to meet both these needs.

So why did you make your mod? Were you frustrated with something? Did you think it would be interesting to tweak a game system? Did you just want an easier experience for a more relaxed campaign?

The person looking at your mod has likely gone through the exact same experience and will be happy to find someone else has done all the work for them!

If you named your mod correctly and it ties into this narrative - you're going to get a subscription.

Just remember to not "bash" CA, other modders or be generally negative. Many people can be put off a product by personalities who are not approachable and friendly!

At this point, the person reading is very interested in your mod. You mod likely claims to have fixed the issues they have with the game, and they want to learn more about the changes you have made.

Remember, don't get technical. Most people won't care if you changed a value in a table or tweaked a script. They do care about the impact of that change - so tell them that.

If you want to excite them further, talk about the types of interactions this change will provide them. Your mod does not work in isolation and impacts many other game systems.

If you have a large mod, you may want to think about creating multiple sections, detailing the key changes your mod makes. Each "system" you've made is adding value to your mod and you should make sure none of them are hidden away. On the flipside, some people may feel deceived if any of your changes are not communicated and adversely impacts their experience.

There are three things certain in life. Death, taxes and people who won't read your mod description.

But some people do - including other mod authors. So this section is something you should always look to do! If you're doing a huge mod, such as an overhaul. You may want to link to an online document/ forum post elsewhere that goes into the details.

For your mod users, keep it super top level and feel free to call out popular mods.
"Anything that mods Ji Militia"
"Anything that mods Cao Cao's diplomacy tables"
"Should work with XXXX"

For other mod authors, who may be investigating their own compatibility issues, try to be specific.
"I make edits to table XXX"
"tweaks vanilla script YYY"
"Utilises CEO/ startpos"
"See documentation here"

Try listing these tables/ scripts in a quote box - to keep it easily readable at a glance.

Hopefully this guide has helped you to properly structure your Mod page on the Steam Workshop.

It should be easier to read, convey all the information a potential subscriber needs to know and look professional and help establish a brand for yourself as a mod author.

1. Before you publish your mod - have a good look to see if someone else has already done the mod. What does your mod offer differently? People get put off by mod duplicates - so if your mod doesn't add anything new, it may be best to keep it private. Otherwise, reach out to the other mod author and let them know you have a similar mod being released - it's good form to do that and sometimes you can link to each others work.

2. Take care with donations requests. Paid modding is a highly contentious area amongst modders and the EULA technically states it's not allowed. Don't plaster your description with requests for payment. A discreet request at the end is enough.

3. Three Kingdoms has a large playerbase in Asia. If your mod doesn't have localised assets consider how to make your mod accessible to non English speakers and reduce the need to duplicate mods across languages.